In Lieu of Flames
by viirus
Summary: A collection of tsuna-centric drabbles and one-shots. - [ all / tsuna ]
1. DRABBLES :: PART ONE

**in lieu of flames** ; a collection of Tsuna-centric drabbles and one-shots.

 **warnings** : hints of 27/All, occasional x-overs, fluctuating genre-drabbles will hop around from angsty crap to crappy comedy

* * *

 **0000\. Sinking**

* * *

( Tsuna is floating. He is warm here, comfortable here.

( Tsuna doesn't really know where _here_ is, but he knows he doesn't want to leave.

( Flames the color of the setting sun protect him; he is safe.

( Something dark approaches and then...

[ cold, cold, cold _why am I so cold_ ]

( ...his flames are stolen.

[ _sealed not stolen;_ _not there's much of a difference._ ]

( Tsuna is sinking. He is cold here, suffocating here.

( Tsuna doesn't really know where here is, but knows he'd rather be someplace else.

[ he doesn't belong here; here where it's always _always_ cold. ]

 **"Tsunayoshi, wake up!"**

Tsuna sinks to the bottom. )

 **"Tsunayoshi!"**

* * *

 **prompt** :: **replace dame with** [ **_adjective_** ]

* * *

 **0001\. Listless Tsuna**

 _list_ _·_ _less :: ( of a person or their manner ) lacking energy or enthusiasm_

* * *

" _Hiee_ -" Tsuna wakes abruptly, with a light jerk, to the sound of a ruler slamming onto his desk.

"Welcome back to the land of the living Sawada. Seeing as you find my lesson boring enough to sleep through, why don't you answer the first problem on the board hm?"

Sluggishly, Tsuna blinks the sleep out of his eyes and squints up at the board. Blurry white letters stare back at him.

"I am waiting, Sawada."

"Uhm... twenty-seven?"

"Very good Sawada, except this is english not math."

"Ah." Squinting harder, Tsuna turns his gaze back onto the board. After an intentionally drawn out beat, Tsuna shifts his chin from his right palm to his left and sighs, "I don't know the answer."

A handful of students snicker, the others simply too used to Tsuna's antics to even bother reacting.

"Detention Sawada. _Again_."

Tsuna shivers mid-shrug, his gaze pinned on the open window beside his seat. Narrowing his eyes, he mentally wills the window to close—it doesn't. Tsuna releases another heavy sigh, not bothered enough to get up and close the window manually. A cool breeze reaches into the window and brushes against Tsuna's cheeks. He sneezes.

( _"The cold always makes me tired, isn't it the same for you?"_

 _"Well yeah, but it's the middle of summer, why are you still cold?"_ )

"There he goes again," they say.

"Listless Tsuna," he's called.

( Silently, Tsuna thinks that if only had those warm orange flames to keep him warm, he probably wouldn't be so tired all the time. )

Comically large eyes of his classmates, stare incredulously as Tsuna attempts to become one with his clothing, his face half hidden beneath the collar of his sweater.

Tsuna's teacher ignores him with a practiced ease, his face filled with a resigned exasperation.

"Just close the window if you're cold Sawada."

"This is fine," he replies, his monotoned voice muffled beneath the thick cloth of his sweater.

 _Sigh_.

Tsuna has always been **cold**.

* * *

 **0003\. Silent Tsuna**

 _si_ _·_ _lent :: ( of a person ) not speaking_

* * *

 _"Mama, why are kids so mean?"_

 _"Eh? Are the kids being mean to you at school Tsu-kun?"_

 _"A little."_

 _"Well, Tsu-kun, let me tell you this, in this lifetime you'll meet all sorts of people. There are billions of people in the world and therefore, some people are bound to be bad apples. If that's the case it's best not to waste time on them, in fact, it's best not to talk to them at all. Your words are precious and those who don't bother to listen to them, don't deserve to hear them at all."_

"Hey Dame Tsuna, I'm low on cash, think you can _lend_ me some?"

Tsuna stares up at the older boy with a steady, straightforward gaze. Said older boy holds back a shudder.

( _What terrifying eyes you have_ )

"Well?"

Tsuna shrugs and walks away.

 _Your words are precious, some people don't deserve to hear them at all_.

Tsuna was six when he first stopped speaking to his classmates.

"Oi, I am not done talking to you, Dame Tsuna!"

A large foot collides painfully with Tsuna's back, throwing him forward, his face slamming against the asphalt

"Well if you're not going to pay up." The older boy lifts his foot from Tsuna's back, prompting a pained wheeze from the young boy which then turns into a pained cry when the same foot rams into Tsuna's stomach.

"Why don't you try begging, _Silent Tsuna_ ," he jeers, "maybe then I'll let you go."

 _Not worth it not worth it not worth it not-_

"Herbivore. I'll bite you to death."

( _your words are precious and just as some people don't deserve to hear them, some people do_ )

Tsuna stares with a dazed expression as Kyoya bashes his nameless bullies head in.

"Little animal," Kyoya greets sharply, his eyes narrowing.

( _but Tsuna has been silent for so long that he isn't sure if he can speak anymore_ )

Tsuna stares up at Kyoya and smiles between the blood in his teeth. _Thanks_.

Kyoya rolls his eyes, "you're always causing trouble. Next time, I'll bite you to death." Tsuna's smile doesn't waver, Kyoya had said the same thing the last time.

When Tsuna lurches forward, unable to hold himself upright, arms that catch him are warm.

 _Thank you thank you thank you_ , he mouths, because his voice is too scared to sound out the pronunciation.

( What's _the use of speaking when nobody listens anyways?_

 _How do you learn to speak again after six consecutive years of silence?_ )

"It's fine," Kyoya says as if he knows what Tsuna's thinking. He probably does too.

 _Thank you thank you thank you_.

"Stupid little animal."

* * *

 **0004\. Shameless Tsuna**

 _shame·less :: ( of a person or their conduct ) characterized by or showing a lack of shame._

* * *

Tsuna stared down at his magazine with only a vague interest. Flipping through the pages in a leisure pace, he ignored the pointed stares and his teacher's indignant gaze.

"Sawada," she snapped, "put that away!"

Tsuna turned his languid gaze on her and then turned back to his magazine. Class hadn't stared yet, it wasn't any of her business what he read anyways. Eyes trailing over the half naked women in his magazine, he sighed and wished he wasn't so bored.

"There goes Shameless Tsuna again, how does he even get his hands on those kinds of magazines?"

"Who knows, but he'll get you one if you ask nicely." _Slap_. "Oniisan! That's horrible!"

Tsuna's gaze wavered when the sound of the seat beside him being pulled back reached his ears.

"Hey, you're Shameless Tsuna right?"

Tsuna's turned his head to the side, eyeing the person beside him.

"Ah, you're the baseball kid," Tsuna replied in a monotoned drone.

"Ha-ha, is that what they call me? My names Yamamoto Takeshi, by the way."

Tsuna grunted his reply and turned back to his magazine, no longer all that interested.

"Hey Tsuna, I was wondering, since you're always reading those magazines with such a disinterested stare, what's your type?"

If Tsuna thought the question was odd, he didn't say so.

"Take-chan, let me tell you a secret."

Takeshi's smile didn't waver at the nickname, if anything he looked even happier.

"I'm actually, asexual."

* * *

 **0005\. Otaku Tsuna** or **Shounen Manga Hero Tsuna**

 _o·ta·ku :: ( in japan ) term for people with obsessive interests, commonly the anime and manga fandom_.

* * *

Sawada Nana was not your average (conventional) stay-at-home house-wife. She was a little bit strange, a little bit ditzy, and she hardly ever heard form her husband, never mind seeing him in person. Even so, no one could really accuse her of being a terrible mother.

Sawada Nana was not as stupid as she acted even if her absent minded behavior was only _kind of_ an act. She knew her husband was not all that he said he was, construction workers didn't need to be so far away from home for so long of time, nor did they need to lie to their children (I am going to become a star!) while they lied to their wife (construction worker my ass). Still, she loved him and loved the roses he sent her every month.

Nana was a daydreamer and a romantic. As such, she often read shojo manga to her son each night before he went to bed.

"Ara, Tsu-kun this is what happens when you lie to your significant other, another man will swoop in and she'll let herself get stolen because she knows she deserves so much better."

Okay, maybe she was a little bitter, but at least she still had her Tsu-kun.

"Don't worry mama, I'd never leave you! I love you more than anything!"

"Ho-ho Tsu-kun, that makes me very happy to hear."

Eventually, of course, Tsuna found his way to the shōnen section and it was then he decided he wanted to become a hero, just like that robot pirate totally-not-a-ninja Naroto Uzukima. (haha copyright, what)

When Reborn arrived in Namimori and explained to Tsuna that he was there to train him to become a mafia boss, he had been silently surprised by his students, _ehem_ , enthusiasm.

"Uwa! So cool? So a mafia boss huh? I guess I can still be a good guy even if I work in the mafia!"

"Wow that salamander can turn into a gun?" "O _oo_ h, so it's a chameleon-der?"

" _Hiee_! Wait don't shoot me! I thought I was going to be your precious genin- I mean student! There's no such thing as ninjas! Naroto Uzukima belonging to Kishimeat-o Masasasa! Don't sue me!"

* * *

yeah that's it.

* * *

 **0006\. Escape Artist Tsuna**

\- _Where Tsuna has secondary, but still potent, cloud flames for some reason._

* * *

From the moment Tsuna learned to crawl, Tsuna had always been known to escape.

He first learned to climb out of his crib at age two, crawled through the door the moment anyone opened it, and then taught himself how to crawl over the baby gate by the age of three. By the age of five, Nana learned to let her Tsu-kun be, while sad that he was such an independent child, he always came back to her in the end and that was enough for her.

When Reborn arrived in Namimori to find his wayward student nowhere in sight, he cursed Iemitsu through the ground, and then set off to search for him. He definitely wouldn't assassinate the child for making him look like an idiot when he arrived at the Sawada house only to ask to see a child who hadn't even been home in a month. This wasn't actually an assassination mission, but damned if he didn't wish it was.

Fucking Iemitsu doesn't even know where the fuck his fucking son was.

Conveniently, Reborn found Tsuna sleeping on the roof of Namimori, a few feet away from Hibari Kyoya. For some reason, that none of the other students could understand, the moment Tsuna and Kyoya had first locked eyes on one another, they came to something of an understanding and decided they didn't hate ( _liked_ ) each other even if they often didn't even see each other for weeks on end.

( I don't flock with herbivores. )

( I won't promise not to leave your side. )

"Tsunayoshi Sawada."

"Yes?"

"I am Reborn, your new home tutor."

"Home tutor? I didn't call for one."

"Your father did."

"Isn't he like dead?"

Reborn screamed.  
Internally only of course.

"No, he's the CEFO of the Vongola, I'm here to turn you into a mafia boss."

"Mafia boss? I thought you were a tutor?"

"And I will be tutoring you to become a mafia boss."

"No thanks."

 **Smack**. "Ow."

"You do not have a choice."

"Oh? Tell me more about why you think so," and so followed the vague, ' _all the other candidates are dead, henceforth you are the only valid candidate_ ' speech. Turning back to his student, Reborn felt a migraine coming on as he eyed the poorly made human-sized doll in front of him. Reborn eyes the note on the dolls forehead with a critical glare.

' _If you want me as your mafia dude, you have to catch me first. =P_ '

"Dammit."

He hadn't even noticed his student slipping off.

'A young boy of five years old,' said his report.

'Who trips a lot and isn't very athletic,' said his report.

'Is super duper cute,' said his report.

He was really going to kill Ie-fucking-mitsu.

When he finally caught up to his student, the child was jumping out his bedroom window.

It took him another five hours to locate him.

He still couldn't actually catch him.

 _This_ , Reborn thought, _is why clouds are the worst_.

Actually, wasn't Tsuna supposed to be a sky?

* * *

 **0007\. Silent Tsuna Part II**

\- _A look from Kyoya's perspective, because he was extremely out of character in the first part._

* * *

The first time Kyoya had met his little animal, it had been cornered by a herd of herbivores playing at being carnivores. He hadn't even hesitated, before he jumped into the flock and bit them all to death with his tonfa's; the only carnivore in Namimori was _him_.

After he'd finished, metaphorically (read: violently), putting the herbivores in their place, he'd turned to the cowering animal and told him to get back to class least Kyoya decide to bite him to death too.

Jumping to his feet, the little animal scurried off to class and Kyoya's mind put the incident aside because he didn't flock with herbivores. But then it happened again, and again, and again, and Kyoya grew irritated, so he watched and observed. Watched the silent little herbivore head to school, get bullied during school, leave school, and then get bullied again as he left school.

This herbivore had no herd to follow. How funny.

Then one day Kyoya came across three stupid sheep beating up the rejected herbivore, again. Kyoya swept down and bit them all to death, as per usual, and then turned towards the little animal with his standard intimidating stare that only a Kyoya could pull off so effortlessly. Except the little animal didn't look up with him with his atypical smile, just lay there on the ground unmoving, chest rising in an uneven pattern.

Eye's noticeably wider than usual, Kyoya had picked up the animal and took him to the hospital, with a gaze sharp enough to cow even the strongest of men.

Kyoya hadn't really cared when he first noticed it happening, a rejected herbivore, well it was still a herbivore and therefore none of his business, but this time they'd gone a bit too far and Kyoya was irritated. Herbivore or not, the little animal was a citizen of Namimori and despite his love of discipline, that borderlined terrorizing, Namimori was his to protect and that included the little herbivore.

Staring down at the little animal, Kyoya reached out his hand and ruffled the mess it called hair.

Fluffy.

Well, Kyoya had been planning on adopting a pet anyways.

When the little animal's eyes opened and it came to face with Kyoya's own piercing gaze, it released a tiny ' _hiee_ ' and rolled off the side of the bed. It was the first noise he'd heard form the animal outside of pained grunts.

How cute. Kyoya had always liked fluffy animals.

* * *

 **0008\. Shameless Tsuna is still Shameless**

* * *

A boy blinked, another girl blushed, and Tsuna's teacher's palm met her forehead (repeatedly).

"Since when were you gay?" Takeshi joked as he glanced over Tsuna's shoulder at his newest magazine; **male** magazine.

"I've always had an open mind, when it comes to gender," Tsuna replied in a tone so dry, no one could tell he was also joking.

The two shared an amusing glance at their inside joke, completely (pretending to be) unaware of the eavesdropping ears.

That marked the day the fujoshis invaded Namimori.

"Sawada-san would actually make a pretty cute uke."

"Really? You mean Shameless Tsuna?"

"Well I mean he's always been pretty cute, I just never noticed because he was always reading those magazines in public."

Three set of blushing eyes turned in Tsuna's direction.

Large curious doe eyes framed with long dark eyelashes stared back at them.

"Something you need?"

"Kya-! You were right! Shameless Tsuna is a homose- cute!"

"Eh?"

"You think Yamamoto-kun and Sawada-kun might be-?"

Everyone died.

(Just kidding.)

* * *

 **0009\. Silent Tsuna Kyoya, meets Shameless Tsuna**

* * *

Kyoya's eye twitched as he stared down at the sight before him.

"You-" "Uwa, what a scary expression."

Kyoya's eye twitched again.

"Want one?" The not-his-little-animal-but-still-the-little-animal(what) asked, offering one of his distasteful magazines.

"For impersonating the little animal and tainting his(your) eyes with such garbage, I will bite you to death."

Tsuna was bitten to death for about a minute before a cloud of pink smoke took the scary demon away and replaced him with the usual one.

"Hey Kyo-chan want one?"

"I'll bite you to death." Oh right.

Kyoya would always be Kyoya after all.


	2. ONE-SHOT :: DIARY DAYS

**. in lieu of flames** ; diary days :: woe is me .

* * *

 **prompt** :: tsuna keeps an observation journal for a literature assignment.

 **notes** :: alternate universe, doesn't follow canon, no mafia, hints of tsuna / all.

* * *

Observation Journal of Sawada Tsunayoshi

oOo

 **Day One** :

Just to make it clear, this is an observation _journal_ , not a diary.

 **Day Two** :

Not that there's anything wrong with having a diary.

 **Day Three** :

Sensei says I should add more to my journal and that continuing a sentence from one day to the next doesn't count as two days, but I digress. Nothing interesting to report though, everything is boring.

Mood: Bored.

I wish everything wasn't so boring.

 **Day Four** :

Sad. Today sensei decided to switch our seating arrangements. He put me in the front of the class in one of the middle aisle. My previous seat was in the back next to a window, it was nice, I fell asleep a lot.

 _Oh_. That's probably why sensei moved me.

Still sad.

 **Day Five** :

I just noticed that I am actually sitting next to Yamamoto Takeshi. Yamamoto-san is the popular baseball star. He also smiles a lot, it's a little bit scary, but he seems nice. Maybe it won't be so bad.

 **Day Six** :

Just kidding, it sucks. Yamamoto-san got me a detention because he kept whispering to me during class. Sensei didn't even get mad at Yamamoto-san.

Afterwards, Yamamoto-san followed me into detention, what is he a dog?

At least things aren't boring anymore.

 **Day Seven** :

I called Yamamoto-san a dog to his face today.

He licked me, with his _tongue_. It was gross.

I've decided that it would be best to just ignore him.

 **Day Eight** :

Ignoring Yamamoto-san is surprisingly difficult, he can pull off the kicked-puppy expression like nobodies business.

I guess he is kind of cute. That is, in the way a puppy is cute after it rips up your favorite stuffed animal.

 **Day Nine** :

I pet Yamamoto-san today, it was really weird. I probably won't be doing it again anytime soon despite the metaphorical tail wagging I received from doing so.

What is my life?

 **Day Ten** :

Yamamoto-san followed me home today. Mom asked me when I'd gotten myself such a cute doggy and scratched Yamamoto-san under the chin while he smiled and made weird panting noises.

I'm just kidding about the panting noises, but it was still really weird.

Never again.

 **Day Eleven** :

A transfer student joined our class today, his name is Gokudera Hayato. His hair is silver and I think his ears are pierced, basically he looks like your stereotypical delinquent.

Gokudera-san has a glare almost on par with Hibari-san's, _almost_. No one can actually beat Hibari-san's glare.

Gokudera-san is scary.

Hibari-san is also scary.

 **Day Twelve** :

I was right about Gokudera-san being scary. I accidentally knocked into him in the hallway, he challenged me to a duel and threw a stick of dynamite at me.

Who the hell carries dynamite in their pocket?

I'm just glad I had my trusty bottle of water. I will never doubt water again. I _love_ water.

Wishing things were boring again.

 **Day Thirteen** :

Gokudera-san has pledged his loyalty and body to me. I don't want his body. I am not Oreochinaru from Naroto Uzukima.

You know, the pirate manga?

Anyways, it happened because I saved Gokudera-san from almost being run over by a car. Afterward, Gokudera-san got on his hands and knees and cried. It was really scary, I probably should have let him get hit.

Just kidding, that would be mean, but still, he offered me his _body_. Whilst _blushing_. In front of _everyone_.

I think a lot of people misunderstood the situation.

 **Day Fourteen** :

Gokudera-san asked me to call him Hayato. I said no. Turns out he he has a kicked puppy look on par with Yamamoto-san. Gokudera-san is now Hayato.

Now if only I can get him to stop calling me boss, it's starting to cause a lot of misunderstandings and now my mom thinks I'm part of the yakuza.

She says she's _proud,_ sometimes I worry about her mental state.

 **Day Fifteen** :

Hayato met Takeshi. Notice how Yamamoto-san is now Takeshi.

Hayato tried to kill Takeshi because Takeshi touched my arm. Then Takeshi got sad and donned his kicked-puppy look when I called Hayato by his first name. So then I called Takeshi Takeshi and Hayato got mad because Takeshi wasn't "worthy" enough.

It was really intense and they only stopped because they thought I started crying.

It was just an eyelash though.

 **Day Sixteen** :

Hayato is probably more of a dog than Takeshi is. I'm not really sure how it happened, but for some reason Hayato and Takeshi decided a 'dog-off' was in order.

I think it was because Hayato got jealous that I called Takeshi a dog. I still don't really understand why.

Anyways, Hayato walked me to school and this morning and Takeshi brought me the morning paper between his teeth. Mom thought it was cute. I thought it was just really weird, but then again, my life has become the manifestation of weird.

 **Day Seventeen** :

Today Hayato had piano lessons after class and Takeshi had to go to baseball practice so I ended up walking home by myself.

I almost got mugged.

Then Hibari-san saved me. Then Hibari-san tried to kill me.

Well I think he did, he said he was going to bite me to death. I might have even peed a little.

 **Day Eighteen** :

Mom thought it was _really_ _sweet_ of Hibari-san to "rescue" me yesterday so she made him bento with a hamburger in it.

I left it on the desk in his office with an unsigned thank you note on the top, and then I ran away.

(He has his own office. _Why_?)

Hibari-san gave me back the bento ( _h_ _ow did he even know?_ ) and then glared at me for some reason, I think he wanted another one.

Hibari-san is scary.

 **Day Nineteen** :

I didn't mention it yesterday, but I checked the bento out of morbid curiosity since it didn't actually feel empty.

I thought it was untouched at first, but then I noticed he'd actually just eaten the steak and left the rest.

I don't really understand. I guess he likes hamburger steak though?

Hibari-san is scary.

 **Day Twenty** :

This morning when I went down for breakfast Hibari-san was sitting at the table eating a hamburger steak.

It seems mama has adopted a cat.

Later when I said so, Nana told me it was more like a cat adopted me. I didn't really get it.

When I went to school the next day and Hibari-san "bit to death" all the bullies that tried to approach me, I understood.

Hibari only liked me for mama's cooking though.

He also still bit me to death for my tardiness though it seemed a little less painful than usual.

He stopped after he thought I started crying.

It was just an eyelash again.

* * *

Observation journal of Gokudera Hayato

oOo

 **Day One** :

Today boss looked extremely beautiful, as always.

He even graced me with a pat on the head though he had to stand on a chair to do so (it was really cute). Tsuna-sama is amazing! Tsuna-sama must be protected at all costs!

 **Day Two** :

I followed Tsuna-sama home today and kept look out for anyone suspicious that might try to hurt him, but then I lost him when a police officer tried to arrest me.

Fucking police officer didn't understand at all. Tsuna-sama must be protected at all costs!

 **Day Three** :

Today I noticed that the baseball freak Yamamoto Takeshi also seems to have his eye on boss.

Baseball freak is a danger to Tsuna-sama even if Tsuna-sama doesn't seem to think so. Tsuna-sama is really too kind and must be protected at all costs!

 **Day Four** :

Tsuna-sama must be protected at all costs!

 **Day Five** :

Tsuna-sama Tsuna-sama Tsuna-sama Tsuna-sama Tsuna-sama Tsuna-sama Tsuna-sama!

.

.

.

"Background Character Sensei?"

"Yes [insert name here] Sensei?"

"I think one of my students might be a stalker."

"Ah. The path of a teacher is a long and hard one."

"What?"

"A teacher is not one that never struggles, he is the one that perseveres though the hardships."

"Nameless Sensei..."

"Even when I am dead, will you remember me? I'll die smiling."

"You've been reading too much manga. That one doesn't even relate to the current situation."

"Please go out with me I will protect you until I die!"

"Okay, now you're just fucking with me."

oOo

I ship Background Character Sensei with [insert name here] Sensei.

* * *

 _lightly inspired by the Kuroko no Basuke fanfic, slow increments by juliedoo_


End file.
